Last week had to be the busiest week in MMA in quite a while; even busier than the week of UFC 100! MMA fans have been inundated with all sorts of interesting mixed martial arts news and events recently.
UFN 19: UFC Fight Night 19 kicked off the festivities with the best fight card I've seen in a long, long time. From top to bottom, every fight on the card was competitive and action packed. The big winners out of that event were Gray Maynard, who won a hard-fought decision over Roger Huerta, and Jay Silva, who lost against CB Dollaway. Even with the loss, Silva performed very well in his debut in the UFC. Maynard is probably a win or two away from a lightweight title shot and I'd love to see him fight the loser of the Penn/Sanchez matchup.
TUF 10: Immediately following UFN 19 the premiere episode of "The Ultimate Fighter 10" a reality-based TV show aired on SpikeTV. The TUF series was unquestionably in dire need of a jump start, since the last several seasons have had lackluster ratings. If the initial ratings of TUF 10 are any measure, it looks like this season has awoken the show again! According to Spike TV, TUF 10 was the most watched TV show in the history of the channel. Having former NFL players, an all heavy-weight cast, and Kimbo Slice was the perfect formula for a successful season premier. I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the season and am dying to know how far Kimbo Slice, a street brawler turned MMA fighter, progresses through the tournament.
SWC 8: For fans in the DFW area, Supreme Warrior Championship held SWC 8: Night of Rumbles last Friday night. This local show is filled with up-and-coming talent, striving to make the leap into the big leagues. The event, held in Frisco, was very entertaining and did a decent job at serving as an appetizer for UFC 103 in Dallas. Click here for SWC 8 results and photos.
UFC 103: Three days after UFN 19 and TUF 10, UFC 103 took place in Dallas, Texas at the American Airlines Center. According to Dave Brown, General Manager of the AAC, UFC 103 was the highest grossing sporting event in the history of the venue and second only to the Rolling Stones in all events. Not too bad for an show that was considered by many to have a weak fight card and no title fights. There were three big winners and two really big losers at the show. Vitor Belfort demolished Rich Franklin, and the rumor is that he could be close to getting a title shot against Anderson Silva (the current middleweight champ). Junior Dos Santos proved he was the real deal in his man-handling of Mirko Cro Cop, and is on a title path of his own. The last big winner was Paul Daley, who was a last minute replacement after Mike Swick sustained an injury forcing him to bow out of the event. Daley put on a striking clinic against Kampmann and is rumored to be taking on Swick next. Whether the winner of that bout gets to fight GSP for the welterweight title is up in the air at this point. The two biggest losers in the event were Cro Cop and Trigg. Both fighters are in the later part of their MMA careers and can not afford to lose any bouts if they plan on making a run at a title shot, let alone get completely demolished by their opponents (which they both did). I don't foresee either of them to be immediately let go by the UFC, but I do expect them to have to perform very well in their next fights. The next loss for either fighter is an automatic ticket to retirement.
Fedor! The big non-UFC news that broke last week was the major Strikeforce announcement that Fedor Emelianenko will fight Brett Rogers on November 7th on CBS. Fedor is regarded by many as the pound-for-pound best fighter in all of MMA and is well known in the MMA community. His ability to draw in the casual MMA fan will be the big question for Strikeforce. The last fight broadcasted on one of the big-three networks (again CBS) was when Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano headlined an Elite-XC card on May 31, 2008. As a result, that event was the most watched MMA event in television history.
That is what I call an intense week in the world of mixed martial arts!
Next up is WEC 43 on Oct 10 and UFC 104: Machida vs Rua on Oct 24. Check back soon for my thoughts on these upcoming events.